


A Fish too Far

by ourgirlfriday



Category: X-Men: First Class (2011) - Fandom
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - No Powers, Crack, M/M, fish don't work this way, they are fish
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-09-02
Updated: 2013-09-02
Packaged: 2017-12-25 10:54:12
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 964
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/952235
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ourgirlfriday/pseuds/ourgirlfriday
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Erik is a betta.  Charles is also a betta.  Hi-jinks ensue.  Sense does not.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Fish too Far

**Author's Note:**

> Unbeta'd. I have spent the last five minutes trying to find a beta/betta pun. I am sorry that I have failed you all. Also, I don't think fish work as advertised here. Sorry.

Erik swam the perimeter of his new, strange amorphous prison. It was tiny, and cramped, and, unlike his rightful tank, lacked any statues attesting to his grandeur. He poked at the flimsy wall with his snout. The Human would soon feel the full weight of Erik’s wrath, he vowed. It would pay for its giant, hairy duplicitous ways. Erik had known better than to trust the human, but he’d assumed it had been cowed after it saw what Erik was capable of. 

Certainly, it hadn’t tried to introduce strangers into Erik’s tank after he took care of Shaw and his cronies. He painted the pirate ship red with Shaw’s blood that night.

“So you show your colors at last, Human.” Erik muttered in a completely appropriate and not at all overdramatic manner. “We will see who carries the day.”

“Hello?” a strange, prettily accented voice called in the darkness. 

“Who goes there?” Erik barked, flaring his fins aggressively. 

“I’m Charles,” the voice replied. Erik felt a gentle tap against the prison wall, as if somefish was on the other side, nudging the plastic. “You must be Erik! My human has told me so much about you. Well, it didn’t _tell_ me, per se, but it did talk about you in front of me.”

“Good.” So his reputation preceded him. That should make things easier. Erik didn’t talk to other fish unless it was to warn them before defending himself and his territory. But something about Charles invited intimacy. “I thought I was alone.”

“Oh, my friend. You’re not alone.” Erik wanted to argue. Charles should know that Erik liked being alone. He was a fighting fish. He’d attacked the last fifty-seven tankmates, never mind what the Human said about general aggression levels in his kind.

The tapping came again, to Erik’s right, and in the darkness it didn’t seem like such a bad idea to swim over and nudge back, snouts separated by only a few meagre layers of plastic. 

Suddenly the sky opened above them, and a large red Human peered down. Erik butted his plastic prison closer to Charles, desperate to protect the other fish – another fighting fish, Erik noticed, with lovely blue coloring that put even the rocks decorating the bottom of his tank to shame. 

“Stay down,” Erik called. 

“Calm your mind!” Charles was nuzzling at the plastic near Erik again, and the fact that Erik relaxed shortly thereafter was completely coincidental. Completely. 

“Oh Erik,” Charles breathed. Erik looked around to see what could make Charles sound so reverent. And, if need be, destroy it. Not that he was jealous.

“Look at the colors on you,” Charles continued, “so purple and pink. You, my friend, have a very groovy mutation.” Erik would have preened, had the Red Human not chosen that moment to lift Erik’s prison out of the dark space with Charles.

“Hey buddy,” the Red Human said as it carried Erik over to what would certainly be his final doom. “You’re trying to say hi, huh?” It asked. Erik narrowed his eyes and redoubled his efforts to attack the prison wall. 

He was unprepared when the Red Human poured him out of the prison. Erik thought of Charles. Would, he thought, that we had more time. 

It was almost anticlimactic when Erik realized he had been poured back into his tank. 

“I bet that move was quite the adventure, buddy? I’ll get your pal set up here too, and y’all can put your fins up”, the Red Human mumbled as it turned back to a strange white box. Erik held his gills when he recognized Charles’s prison in its hands. He swam in tight circles as the Red Human walked over, and so help him it better not trip with Charles in its grasp. 

“I will make your kind pay for the suffering you have brought upon us!” Erik cried just as the Red Human upended Charles’s bag. Charles swam around a bit getting his bearings before returning to Erik’s side. Erik made a vow to himself not to let Charles out of his sight ever again.

“Well hello again, Erik”, Charles murmured, fins brushing. Erik’s gills fluttered flirtatiously as Charles flexed his fins. Somewhere nearby Humans were making strange bellowing noises, but let them enjoy their strange rituals. Charles was infinitely more interesting. 

***  
Raven was torn between being thankful Cassidy had been able and willing to help her move, and wanting to throw a spatula at his head. “Sean. They’re _fighting fish_. Tell me you didn’t put the fish in the same tank. We have different aquariums! Why did you think we have different aquariums?” Raven shouted as she tore into the living room, Hank quick on her heels. 

“How was I supposed to know,” Sean called after them. “They were in the same cooler. Plus, you’re the ones who dig fish. I’m a dog person.” 

“I’ll dog person you,” she muttered to herself. She didn’t have time to make sense. Not when she had to make sure Charles was safe from the evil one. She’d heard Hank’s stories about Erik’s more bloodthirsty tendencies. Charles wouldn’t last a minute. 

She skidded to a halt when the tank came into view, not quite believing her eyes as she took in the surprisingly…. _friendly_ scene before her, including one tank and a small, undulating, ball of fish. 

“Oh,” Hank said behind her. “Well, at least Erik and Charles seem to be getting along. Unusual, for two male fighting fish, but. Well…..” At least he seemed to be in the same boat, she thought. 

“I don’t think they’re fighting,” Sean said helpfully.

“Yes. We gathered,” Raven replied as she grabbed a bottle of gin and shuffled back to the kitchen. At least someone was having a good night. 

 

Charles:

Erik:  


**Author's Note:**

> Fish images from: http://www.aquariumfish.net/


End file.
